Dominic Johnson, 47, of England Way in New Malden, is thought to have fallen asleep at the wheel of his Vauxhall Movano van while driving on the A141 in Cambridgeshire at just after 5am on June 29 in 2023.
He drifted into the opposite carriageway and collided with a Suzuki Vitara before leaving the carriageway and ending up about 100 feet away in a field.
The driver of the Suzuki, a 56-year-old man from Lincolnshire, was cut free from the car and taken to hospital with life-threatening head injuries.
Johnson suffered minor injuries and was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
A forensic collision investigator attended and noted gouge marks in the road suggested Johnson’s van had veered across the road into the opposite carriageway.
The crash was then reconstructed from the marks left on the road and clearly showed Johnson’s vehicle was on the wrong side of the road at the point of impact.
In police interview, Johnson blamed the crash on the other driver and said it was he who was in the wrong lane.
However, both vehicles involved in the crash were examined and the airbag data module was removed from Johnson’s van which revealed that at the point of impact, Johnson was steering 40 degrees to the right and he had accelerated to 50mph without braking.
Enquiries at a hotel in Coventry showed Johnson could only have had a maximum of just over four hours sleep the night before the crash.
The other driver spent two months in hospital and suffered a traumatic brain injury, numerous fractures of the skull as well as limb, pelvis, ribs and spinal fractures.
He told police the collision had changed his life; that he now requires a lot of care, must walk with a frame, struggles to complete normal day-to-day activities and has not worked since the collision.
In his second police interview Johnson gave a pre-prepared statement which again blamed the other driver for the collision.
Johnson was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He continued to deny the charge and stood trial for four days at Peterborough Crown Court in August, where jurors took less than an hour to find him guilty of the offence.
Johnson was jailed for three years and two months at the same court on Friday October 31.
He was also disqualified from driving for four years and seven months.
Detective Constable Niall Hamshere, of the BCH Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU), said: “The impact of this collision on the victim cannot be underestimated.
“In a victim impact statement considered by the court, he explains how his life has been permanently altered by the crash, including losing his job, having surgery at hospital and suffering from continuous pain, anxiety, PTSD, and tinnitus.
“Having got married two weeks before the collision, he has also never got to enjoy a honeymoon.
“Johnson’s manner of driving was extremely dangerous and he refused to admit he was at fault, continuing to blame the other driver and taking the case to trial.
“We may never know if Johnson fell asleep at the wheel or what caused him to swerve into the other lane – but we would always urge drivers not to get behind the wheel when they’re tired and to take regular breaks.”
For more road safety information, visit the force’s dedicated webpage.
